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NEW DELHI: India Thursday said its commitment to extradite embattled liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya is very strong and it will put in all efforts to bring him back from the UK.

This strong assertion came on a day a UK court said Mallya's appeal in the UK High Court against his extradition order has been listed for a three-day hearing from February 11 next year.

Asked about the development, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said: "It is a judicial process. It is for the court to decide the dates for the next hearing." "I can only assure you about our commitment and our commitment is very strong that we will continue to put all efforts to extradite him back to India," he said.

The 63-year-old former Kingfisher Airlines boss had won a reprieve earlier this month when a two-judge panel at the Royal Courts of Justice in London granted him permission to appeal against the extradition order of a lower court to face fraud and money laundering charges amounting to an alleged Rs 9,000 crore in India.

On the issue of four Indian nationals arrested in connection with an ongoing investigation into an Iranian oil supertanker seized off the Spanish coast, Kumar said: "There was a news report that they have all been provided consular access. My sense is that the due process of law will continue. The most important thing for us is that we should have access to them which has already been established." The four Indian nationals have been freed on bail without charge, the Royal Gibraltar Police said last week.

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